mass shooting

Gun sales in Colorado spiked in the days immediately following the mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, according to Associated Press.

Colorado approved background checks for 2,887 people who wanted to purchase a firearm during the three days (Fri.-Sun.) following the shooting, the AP reported. That is "25 percent more than the average Friday to Sunday period in 2012 and 43 percent more than the same interval the week prior."

While a spike in gun sales makes for a great headline, I'm not surprised.

Any time a mass shooting occurs, two things are going on that influence this consumer behavior.

First, politicians start talking about the need to tighten gun-control laws and/or ban guns outright. Anyone who believes in the Second Amendment will view that dialogue with indignation and rush out to buy the guns before the politicians take them away.

The second thing going on is people feel unsafe. Any act of terrorism will have that effect, and people are buying more guns to protect themselves now that even going to the movie theater can turn into a shootout (depending on your view of guns, you'll think that reasoning is either true or paradoxical).

The AP spoke with one gun dealer in Arvada, Colo. Dick Rutan, owner of Gunners Den, said inquiries about his concealed-weapon training certification "are off the hook." He continued: "What they're saying is: They want to have a chance. They want to have the ability to protect themselves and their families if they are in a situation like what happened in the movie theater."

Gun debate will continue, but it doesn't appear there's much political will to do anything about tighter restrictions.

One security professional I spoke with on Monday about the effects the event will have on movie theater security believes that guns shouldn't be the focus in the aftermath of this event. Jeff Slotnick, president of the security consulting firm Setracon Inc. and chairman of ASIS International's Physical Security Council (he's also both CPP & PSP certified), said the blame for this tragedy should not be placed on the weapon of choice. The suspect could have used a bomb, or grenades, or pistols.

Slotnick believes these types of events speak more to a failure of the country's mental health system, as well as lapses in basic physical security procedures and emergency preparedness training of employees and normal citizens. Those are the topics we should focus on following an event like this, and the initiatives that have the best chance of preventing future tragedies like this.

What do you think?

It didn't take long for some people to jump on the crazy train that began its journey in a theater in Colorado when a lone gunman shot and killed 12 people and injured 58 others at a midnight screening of the new Batman movie.

On Sunday morning, just two days after the "Batman" massacre, a Maine State Police trooper pulled over 49-year-old Timothy Courtois going 112 m.p.h. on the Maine Turnpike, according to the Portland Press Herald.

Police found an arsenal in the car, including an assault rifle, four handguns and several boxes of ammunition, the newspaper reported (they later found an even larger arsenal in his home).

Courtois told police he was on is way to shoot a former employer in New Hampshire and that he had brought a loaded handgun into a recent screening of the new Batman movie. The Press Herald didn't mention if his claim could be confirmed, but in apparent support of it, police found several newspaper clippings about the "Batman" massacre in his car.

Another eerie aspect is that Courtois was driving a brand new 2013 Ford Mustang and called it his concept car, according to the newspaper, and planned to install a dashboard camera and police scanner. I can't help compare a black mustang to the Batmobile.

This man was caught because normal people were vigilant and reported his speeding to the police.

It's that kind of awareness that Jeff Slotnick, president of the security consulting firm Setracon Inc. and chairman of ASIS International's Physical Security Council, told me was sorely needed to prevent more massacres like the one that took place in that Colorado theater.

Slotnick spoke with me for a recent article I wrote about the aftermath of the attack. "We don't pay attention in our society," he said. "I think it's very important that we start paying attention, that we start being good citizens, that we start taking responsibility for not just our safety, but the safety of our neighbors."

A heart-wrenching story is emerging about one of the victims in this morning's mass shooting at the Colorado movie theater. Of course, the story of all those killed and wounded in the shooting is heart-wrenching. But one victim has a story that stands out.

Jessica Ghawi, an aspiring sports newscaster, has been named as a victim in the shooting, according to local TV station KSAT. Several friends have tweeted memories and tributes to Ghawi, who was @JessicaRedfield on Twitter.

Jessica's brother, Jordan Ghawi, a firefighter and paramedic in Texas, wrote on his blog that he was able to speak with a mutual friend, Brent Lowak, who was with Jessica at the theater, and was wounded himself. "[Lowak] stated that they were in the theatre when an incendiary device was fired into the crowd and that shots rang out immediately afterwards. Brent further stated that he took two rounds and that my sister took one round followed by an additional round which appeared to strike her in the head."

What's eerie is that this was not the first mass shooting Ghawi had been a part of. She was present for the shooting last month at the Eaton Center mall in Toronto.

She blogged about her experience at that shooting. Reading Ghawi's words now makes my skin crawl.

Ghawi wrote: "I can’t get this odd feeling out of my chest. This empty, almost sickening feeling won’t go away. I noticed this feeling when I was in the Eaton Center in Toronto just seconds before someone opened fire in the food court. An odd feeling which led me to go outside and unknowingly out of harm‘s way. It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around how a weird feeling saved me from being in the middle of a deadly shooting."

Another excerpt: "I was shown how fragile life was on Saturday. I saw the terror on bystanders’ faces. I saw the victims of a senseless crime. I saw lives change. I was reminded that we don’t know when or where our time on Earth will end. When or where we will breathe our last breath. For one man, it was in the middle of a busy food court on a Saturday evening. I say all the time that every moment we have to live our life is a blessing. So often I have found myself taking it for granted. Every hug from a family member. Every laugh we share with friends. Even the times of solitude are all blessings. Every second of every day is a gift. After Saturday evening, I know I truly understand how blessed I am for each second I am given."

Read her full blog post.

The headlines this morning are dominated by news of the movie-theater massacre that took place very early this morning in the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colo. Here's a roundup of news and analysis about the event:

A 24-year-old lone gunman identified by police as James Holmes, a white male, burst into a midnight screening of the new Batman flick, "The Dark Knight Rises," threw a smoke grenade and opened fire on the audience with an assault rifle. There are 12 dead (10 died at the scene, and two at local hospitals) and more than 30 wounded, according to ABC News.

Police have Holmes in custody, arresting him in the theater parking lot. The FBI is assisting in the investigation and has said there's no reason to believe Holmes was associated with any larger terrorist organization. There is no known motive at this point.

While in custody, Holmes apparently referred to the presence of explosives in his nearby apartment. A SWAT team was deployed to the building, which was evacuated, and pushed a video camera through the outside window to investigate inside the apartment. No word yet on what they found.

While no one knows Holmes's motive at this point, ABC News went out on a limb and reported that they had found a reference to a "Jim Holmes" of Aurora, Colo., on the website for Colorado's Tea Party, according to Politico. Seems too soon to report such a thing without first confirming whether it's the same James Holmes. (Here's the Tea Party website ABC News cited.)

Holmes's rampage was the largest mass shooting in Colorado since the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School, which is only 15 miles from the site of this morning's shooting.

Dale Stockton, editor of www.LawOfficer.com, offers his commentary on the law enforcement response to this morning's shooting and best practices for responding to mass-casualty events.

Colorado's gun laws are fairly liberal, and this event has created the customary calls for stricter gun control.

The International Business Times includes a summary of the gun laws in Colorado, including the fact that gun registration is not required.

New York City Michael Bloomberg made his anti-gun beliefs known on a morning radio talk show. “Soothing words are nice,” Bloomberg said, according to Politico. “But maybe it’s time the two people who want to be president of the United States stand up and tell us what they’re going to do about it, because this is obviously a problem across the country. And everybody always says, ‘Isn’t it tragic?’”

CNN's Piers Morgan shared his opinion on Twitter this morning: "Horrendous details from this Colorado cinema shooting. America has got to do something about its gun laws. Now is the time."

Plenty of people jumped on his back, including journalist and columnist Michelle Malkin, who tweeted that "armed CO citizens have SAVED lives in mass shootings," including this link to information about a 2007 church shooting where an armed parishioner saved lives by taking down the shooter.

Janet Napolitano, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, released a statement saying she was "deeply saddened" by the incident. "Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies continue to respond to this horrific event and I have directed the Department of Homeland Security to provide any support necessary in the ongoing investigation," she said. "We are committed to bringing those responsible to justice. Our hearts and prayers go out to anyone impacted by this tragedy, especially the family and friends of those killed or injured.”

President Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney have said they will address the incident in remarks today.